States » EastPosted at: Jul 2 2025 12:13PM


Bengal BJP gears up to pick its party president ahead of 2026 assembly polls

Kolkata, July 2 (UNI) West Bengal's principal opposition, the BJP, is in the process to pick its party president this week to lead the saffron camp in the 2026 assembly polls.
The filing of nomination for the coveted post is scheduled for the day and the name of the state party chief will be declared tomorrow. Party's Rajya Sabha MP and spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya leads the race as a consensus candidate, party insiders say.
Sources said Bhattacharya is the sole contender for the post, which is now held by Union minister Dr Sukanta Majumdar, whose term expired last September.
They said the top party leadership was in favour of Bhattacharya holding the post, and that the attempt is to seek a consensus candidate who would lead the party in the next assembly polls.
Bhattacharya was also one of the invitees who visited the residence of party chief JP Nadda in Delhi on Monday. Sources said the meeting was called at a short notice which led to speculation as to who will lead the saffron camp in Bengal.
Sixty-one-year-old Bhattacharya, a former RSS activist, is known to keep his cool in adverse circumstances and is among the top party functionaries in the state.
As a vocal party member of the Rajya Sabha, his oratorical skills are admired by his colleagues.
He was also one of the members of India's outreach mission on Operation Singoor in the UK and elsewhere where BJP's central leader Ravi Shankar Prasad headed the delegation.
The nomination and withdrawal of candidature will take place today (July 2) followed by voting, if necessary, and the result will be out the following day, party sources said.
The schedule was officially announced yesterday by BJP MLA and returning officer Deepak Barman
Over 400 members have been enlisted for the election committee that will oversee the process.
BJP's central leader Ravi Shankar Prasad has been entrusted to oversee the process for picking the party chief for Bengal.
Sources said in the recent months when the top BJP leadership was contemplating a new party leader for Bengal before the 2026 assembly polls, there were some names that did come up for the post, but finally, Samik Bhattacharya emerged as a consensus candidate.
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Tags: #Bengal BJP gears up to pick its party president ahead of 2026 assembly polls
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